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Toshiba is heading for the U.S. compact digital camcorder market with the introduction of the full-HD Camelio range. Due to hit stores on April 19, the new line is made up of the pocket-sized, 3.5 ounce S20 and two compact touch-screen models – the H30 and X100. All units include HDMI output, 3-inch LCD monitor, Internet upload hotkey and support for SD/SDHC memory cards…

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Toshiba

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As reported on the  PS3 forum, and then picked up by Engadget, some individuals appear to be having issues after upgrading their firmware to 3.21. Even in our comments section here, the problems experienced have varied. Issues are ranging from frozen hardware displaying an  8002F14E error, failed upgrades during firmware extraction, to serious issues with game and blu-ray playback.  Other individuals have upgraded without issues. What’s odd is that after pouring through the forum, there isn’t one string that binds everything together, it all appears to be very random symptom wise, except that it predominantly affects models non slim models. During the upgrade of my slim, I noticed the firmware update took quite a bit longer than normal, but I assumed that to be expected given the nature of the change, but perhaps that isn’t the case.  Best advice is if your experiencing issues post your issues to the comments here, or on the PS3 forum that way the data can continue to be captured until the issue is resolved.

No official word has been provided by Sony, but I am confident they are looking into it.

Wade Roush wrote:

Thing Labs, the California startup that launched both the Plinky prompting service and the Brizzly social media reader with support from Waltham, MA-based Polaris Venture Partners, announced late Tuesday night that it plans to stop updating Plinky, and that it may eventually shut the site down. In an e-mail to users, Thing Labs said its developers have been so busy improving Brizzly, which presents simplified views of Facebook and Twitter updates, that they haven’t had time to work on Plinky, which provided daily prompts to help users write social-media updates. “We put a lot of work into [Plinky], and we think it’s a great site,” the Thing Labs notice said. “At the same time, we feel we have much more to offer with Brizzly than we ever could have with Plinky.” Xconomy profiled Plinky in February 2009, calling it “the cure for blank-slate syndrome.”

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UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

According to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment water temperatures are increasing in many streams and rivers throughout the United States.

“Warming waters can impact the basic ecological processes taking place in our nation’s rivers and streams,” said Dr. Sujay Kaushal of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) and lead author of the study. “Long-term temperature increases can impact aquatic biodiversity, biological productivity, and the cycling of contaminants through the ecosystem.”

The study focused its attention on 40 streams and rivers throughout the US, and found that 20 showed “statistically significant long term warming trends.” The annual mean water temperature increased by 0.02-0.14°F (0.009-0.077°C) per year and could often be correlated with increases in air temperature. Rates of warming in these streams were found to be most speedy in urbanized areas.

(more…)

by Julian Ku

Here’s another interesting report on the ongoing battle against Somalia-based pirates.  The upshot: some progress is being made, especially with private security forces (including one which uses sound waves to push away approaching pirates).  But legal limitations continue to limit the effectiveness of both naval and private self-defense.

“No commanding officer of any ship wants a situation where he used force and then is told a week later that he shouldn’t have.  That he violated the rules and under international law maybe murder would be applied to that.  It’s a dangerous line to cross,”

One former naval officer suggests creating an in-shore “maritime police” force.

“The proposal is send the warships home.  And let’s get an international task force together of maritime police and put them inside Somali territorial waters under U.N. auspices, with a U.N. Security Council resolution giving them authority,”

Sony has announced its “Road to Zero” global environmental plan. The plan, which includes a long-term goal of achieving a zero environmental footprint by 2050, uses backcasting methods to set specific mid-term environmental targets for the next five years in line with that goal. Sony’s definition of zero environmental footprint is not only limited to the neutralization of carbon emissions, but also extends to waste and use of finite materials such as oil-derived virgin plastics.

Targets are based on four environmental perspectives – climate change, resource conservation, control of chemical substances and biodiversity – across all product lifecycle stages, from research and development to recycling. The mid-term targets will be implemented globally across the Sony Group beginning in fiscal year 2011 (April 2011), and will extend through the end of fiscal year 2015 (March 2016), at which time new targets for the following 5 years will be set.

Specific mid-term targets include:

• 30% reduction in annual energy consumption of products (compared to fiscal 2008)
• 10% reduction in product mass (compared to fiscal 2008)
• 50% absolute reduction in waste generation (compared to fiscal 2000)
• 30% absolute reduction in water consumption (compared to fiscal 2000)
• 14% reduction in total CO2 emissions associated with all transportation and logistics (compared to fiscal 2008)
• 16% reduction in incoming parts packaging waste (compared to fiscal 2008)
• Increase of waste recycle ratio to 99% or more
• 5% reduction in utilization ratio of virgin oil-based plastics in products (compared to fiscal 2008)
• Assessment of impact of resource procurement and facility construction on biodiversity, and promotion of biodiversity programs such as groundwater cultivation
• Minimization of the risk of chemical substances through preventive measures; reduction in use of specific chemicals defined by Sony; and promotion of use of alternative materials

“We are fully committed to putting our innovative spirit and technological expertise to use to help solve environmental challenges,” said Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President of Sony Corporation. “From the development of new materials and energy-efficient technologies, to the introduction of better processes in manufacturing and production, we will work aggressively to meet the ambitious targets we are setting for ourselves and, at the same time, establish a model for others in our industries to follow.”

Sony has already made significant progress in reducing its environmental impact around the world. Sony’s European sites, for example, have reduced their CO2 emissions from electricity use and facility heating by approximately 93% between fiscal years 2000 and 2009. In addition, the majority of its BRAVIA TV range now carries the EU ‘flower,’ an eco-label introduced by the EU to certify greener, more environmentally friendly products that comply with strict ecological criteria.

Sony Europe is also a founding member of the ‘European Recycling Platform’ (ERP). Fully operational in 11 European countries, the ERP effectively manages end-of-life collection and recycling for all consumer electronics products. In 2008, approximately 60,000 tons of electronic waste were collected and recycled on behalf of Sony in 20 European countries.

In the U.S., Sony Electronics (SEL) was the first consumer electronics manufacturer to institute a nation-wide Take Back Recycling Program in 2007 through which consumers can recycle any Sony-branded product free of charge. To date, SEL has recycled more than 13,000 tons of electronic waste through its take back efforts.

In Japan, Sony is the only company that voluntarily collects used small-sized consumer electronics on an experimental basis jointly with a municipality, Kitakyushu City in southern Japan. Gold, silver, bronze and palladium are extracted from the products discarded by city residents and are subsequently reused by Sony. For example, the recycled gold was used in Sony’s semiconductor chips that were then adopted for use in Sony Ericsson’s “URBANO BARONE” mobile phone (available in Japan through KDDI Corporation since February 2010).

In addition, the new VAIO W eco edition, launched in most major global markets this year and designed to be the industry’s most environmentally friendly laptop, features recycled plastic parts, an electronic manual and an innovative carry-bag that saves 10% in CO2 emissions during production.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, based in Culver City, CA, took an important step toward its zero waste goal in June 2009 by partnering with the City of Culver City in a first-of-its-kind organic waste composting program. Thanks to this program, the studio has already diverted up to 80% of its waste from landfills (as of December 2009). In addition, an estimated 8,559 set pieces were reused in 2009, saving over a million pounds (500 tons) of material and helping reduce impact on natural resources. That same year, the studio recycled 81 tons of electronic waste.

Sony’s fiscal year 2015 targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and power consumption per product were reviewed and approved by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a renewal of the company’s Climate Savers Programme commitments. Sony has been a member of the WWF Climate Savers Programme since 2006. The Programme was organized by WWF International to mobilize companies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The folks at Cool Cat Collars want your cat to be safe, so they’re giving away one of their Ancol reflective safety collars! Made from tough nylon webbing, these collars are backed with a reflective plastic strip to make kitty more visible at night. They also have a breakaway buckle for added safety, plus they come with a color coordinated bell. Choose from blue, red/orange, or silver.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post. The winner will be chosen in a random drawing on April 13. One entry per person. This giveaway is open to readers everywhere! Thanks Cool Cat Collars!

The Chinese government has announced that small steelmakers, with steel blast furnaces smaller than 400 cubic meters, must shut down by the end of this year, based on a Tuesday announcement from The State Council.

This is part of a push to reduce overcapacity across a range of industries including power, coal, steel, cement, and metals. Note that China enacted a three-year moratorium on new applications for steel capacity expansion last year.

China Daily:

“These small steel mills are mostly located in Shandong and Shanxi provinces,” said Du Wei, an analyst with industry consultancy firm Umetals.com.

“It is hard to calculate how many of these steelmakers there are, but the new move will help rein in overcapacity in the steel industry,” Du said.

…

China’s crude steel production capacity was forecast at 700 million tons at the end of 2009, while China’s steel output stood at 567.84 million tons last year.

It’s good news for the large players, but given continued expansion at larger steel producers (they had expansion plans which were applied for ahead of the recent moratorium, one has to imagine that these small producer shutdowns will end being just a drop in the bucket.

Join the conversation about this story »

This session will be a fast-paced debate exploring a variety of controversial ECM-related issues and trends

Redmond, Washington’s Microvision, producers of miniaturized technologies, announced it has made its first big sale of its PicoP laser projection display engine.

The unidentified customer “plans to embed the PicoP engine inside a high-end mobile media player for release in late 2010 and plans to announce its launch at that time.” It is worth noting that the company has made technology designed to be used by the iPod and iPhone.

Sponsor

In early March, the company announced that their SHOWWX projector, powered by the engine, was available for sale to customers in the United States at $549.99.

The pico projector uses laser light to produce high resolution, WVGA (848 X 480) images of up to 200 inches at a 5000:1 contrast ratio, which Microvision claims is five times higher than any of its competition. The projector can be attached to a computer or smart phone. It uses no focusing knobs or optics.

The company hopes to see a broad spectrum of personal and professional technology devices using the engine and projector.

Discuss

Image Courtesy andriasang

In a twitter post translated by andriasang, there appears to be a big surprise coming from Hideo Kojima about Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. In a tweet, he had this to say:

On Wednesday, there will be a big Peace Walker announcement. I don’t think you can understand the enjoyment of Peace Walker until you’ve played it, but I believe you’ll feel a hint of sorts about ‘where is it a new Metal?

Right now it’s anybody’s guess, but hopefully we get more details from the Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker completion ceremony being held today. The MGS titles have been a gaming staple for years and this is going to be another welcome addition to the library. As more news becomes available, we will update you.

Forras, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, doesn’t have the kind of campaign cash some of his rivals do. 

Zynga, the leading social-gaming company behind Facebook hits such as Farmville and Mafia Wars, would likely be worth as much as $5 billion if it were publicly traded instead of privately held, according to SecondShares.com, a group of former equity analysts who spend their time researching the value of private online companies such as Zynga, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. SecondShares based its estimate of Zynga’s value on the number of outstanding shares, estimated revenue per user, growth rate and other metrics, and projected that by 2015 the game-maker could have a theoretical market value as high as $10 billion.

The authors of the report — former Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs equity analyst Lou Kerner, former Sanford Bernstein research analyst Eli Halliwell and Gamers Media CEO Jay Gould — say Zynga is the leader in the social gaming market with 237 million monthly active users and 6 of the top 7 social games. That gives the company more than four times as many monthly active users as Playfish, which was recently bought by Electronic Arts for $400 million. China’s Tencent Holdings is the only online game company that is larger than Zynga, the report says, with 400 million monthly active users.

Based on an estimate of what Zynga likely makes in revenue from the average user, Second Shares projects that the company will pull in about $500 million in revenue this year, and could be making as much as $1.6 billion per year in five years. The analysts say that shares of the company are currently trading in private, illiquid markets at about $9 a share, but would likely be worth almost twice as much if Zynga were to go public, and that Zynga has a number of strengths that justify a premium valuation, including the fact that it can cross-market games to users of other Zynga games, and that it is quickly able to duplicate other successful games that competitors come up with.

As with Facebook, Twitter, and other high profile private companies, you can buy Zynga shares in the (illiquid) private market, where about $6 million worth of shares traded hands last year through marketplaces like SecondMarket.com. Only accredited investors are allowed to participate. Currently, the ask price is about $9/share, implying a market cap for Zynga of $2.8 billion.

Toward the end of its research report, however, Second Shares mentions a number of potential risks for Zynga and its valuation, including:

• Farmville currently accounts for an estimated 50 percent of the company’s revenue, and “appears to have peaked in terms of popularity.”
• Facebook blocked applications from providing notifications in newsfeeds last month, removing “a major source of free advertising.”
• Four of Zynga’s six major game hits “appear to have peaked or to be in decline.”
• Zynga is dependent on Facebook, and growth at the social network could slow, or the network could harm Zynga somehow.
• Online gaming is a risky, hit-driven business, and there are a lot of competitors.

In February, a research firm called Next Up estimated that Zynga was worth as much as $3 billion, in a report it did for a private share-trading site called SharesPost.com, where Zynga is currently valued at $2.6 billion. Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies invested $180 million in Zynga in December.

In November, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities said Zynga could be worth as much as $1 billion, given the $400 million that Electronic Arts paid for Playfish. At that point, Inside Social Games estimated that Zynga would have revenue of $210 million for 2009 and $355 million this year, and a statement from the company said that 1 million of its 200 million active monthly users were buying virtual goods.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d): How The Next Zynga Could Reinvent Social Gaming

Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user Amanda Bake It Pretty

In the support pages for the iWorks products—Pages, Keynote, and Numbers—there’s a little note: More »

Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton spoke last month at ShoWest, the nation’s largest convention for the movie theater industry, and basically urged for healthier snacks at their concession stands in addition to their traditional offerings of candy, popcorn and soda. He noted that “adding healthier options to your existing menu is the right thing to do for our industry, for audiences and for our country.”

Lynton said a poll of moviegoers commissioned by Sony Pictures revealed:

• two-thirds of moviegoers and three-quarters of parents are more likely to buy healthy snacks at theaters if they are offered;
• forty-two percent of parents said they would buy concessions more often if healthy options were available;
• sixty percent of parents said having healthier snacks in theaters would enhance their overall moviegoing experience;

Lynton said he was not asking theaters to stop selling popcorn, soda and candy. “Audiences love them” he said. “I’m just talking about adding some healthier items to what you already sell.”

Lynton also announced that the Alliance for a Healthier Generation has offered to meet with the theater owners “and offer advice on how to change your menus in a way that makes sense for your audiences and your business.”

“The private sector, including the theater industry, has the ability to improve the access families have to healthier foods and beverages,” said President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, who co-leads the Alliance for a Healthier Generation with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and American Heart Association President Clyde Yancy. “The Alliance brokered voluntary agreements with the beverage industry that resulted in an 88 percent decrease in beverage calories shipped to America’s schools in just a few years. We are eager to work with the movie theater industry to craft similar agreements to provide healthy concession options in movie theaters.”

“In order to turn the tide on the obesity epidemic we are going to need to make soup to nuts changes in the number of calories we take in and the calories we actively use. Because kids are eating and foraging at home, school, sporting events and at the movies, changes are needed everywhere,” said Dr. Neal Halfon, professor of pediatrics, public health and public policy at UCLA and director of the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. “We can’t expect kids to make healthy choices if they aren’t given healthy choices to make. And while this is a nationwide problem, and will require support from companies with a national stature like Sony Pictures and large theater chains, it will also depend on the ingenuity and commitment of local theater operators to make the difference in their communities.”

In a videotaped message to the convention, Dr. Mehmet Oz, vice chair and professor of surgery at Columbia University and host of The Dr. Oz Show, said, “Everyone enjoys popcorn and a soda at the movies, but there are healthier alternatives. Good nutrition doesn’t mean eating spinach at every meal. But with so many children and teens going to movies so often these days, I think we’ve got to be mindful about what they’re eating and drinking, and giving them the chance to choose healthier food makes a lot of sense.”

Lynton said theater owners should consider taking this step because childhood obesity is an epidemic, it’s the responsible thing to do for audiences and society, and it’s good for their business because it would help families enjoy theaters even more and, by giving them healthier options, more snacks will be purchased.

Regarding what kinds of snacks might be offered at theaters, Lynton said, “I don’t think giant tubs of spinach or broccoli’s a good idea. And nobody wants to eat cauliflower while watching Spider-Man, or drink a 40-ounce cup of prune juice.”

He said moviegoers suggested to the studio’s interviewers the kind of snacks they”d like to see:

• fresh fruit, fruit cups, apples with dip;
• veggies with dip;
• yogurt;
• granola bars and trail mix;
• baked chips, apples chips and unbuttered, air-popped popcorn.

Lynton said some people sneak healthy snacks into movie theaters, like a granola bar or a box of raisins, which represents an untapped market for concession stands. “People are consuming food differently these days. In fact, many of your theaters are located near Starbucks and Whole Foods and in malls and other places where consumers are now finding more nutritious food and beverage options. Audiences would love both a great theatrical experience and terrific snacks.”

Lynton said employees at Sony Pictures are offered a subsidized healthy lunch special and expanded salad bar at the studio commissary. He noted some theaters are moving in the direction of offering healthier foods; some use canola oil instead of coconut oil for their popcorn. He also said he understands that some things “will prove to be logistically or economically impossible…But even small steps in the right direction can have a big impact.”

According to a new study the regular shift in Earth’s orbit may have a direct linkage to a change in the climate.

In an analysis that looked at ocean sediment cores from 57 locations, UC Santa Barbara geologist Lorraine Lisiecki has found that over the past 1.2 million years there appears a linkage between a shift in the shape of Earth’s orbit – the eccentricity – and Earth’s climate.

By analysing the sediments in the ocean sediment cores scientists are able to look back through Earth’s climate for millions of years. What Lisiecki has done is link the climate information found within these sediment cores and correlated it with a history of Earth’s orbit.

A generally acknowledged scientific fact is that Earth’s orbit around the sun changes every 100,000 years, becoming either more round or more elliptical.

According to her study, Lisiecki has found that glaciation also occurs every 100,000 years, and that the timing of changes in climate and eccentricity coincided.

“The clear correlation between the timing of the change in orbit and the change in the Earth’s climate is strong evidence of a link between the two,” said Lisiecki. “It is unlikely that these events would not be related to one another.”

Oddly, Lisiecki discovered that the largest glacial cycles occurred during the weakest changes in the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit, and vice versa. In other words, the stronger the shift in our planet’s orbit, the weaker the shift in our planet’s climate. According to Lisiecki, “this may mean that the Earth’s climate has internal instability in addition to sensitivity to changes in the orbit.”

According to the press release from the University of California – Santa Barbara, Lisiecki concludes that climate changes over the past million years probably involves a complex interaction between various aspects of our planet’s climate system working in conjunction with three different orbital systems; eccentricity, tilt and precession.